Deen’s Daily: Georgiev Victorious in Return; Datsyuk Signs Symbolic Contract; Blackwood for Team Canada?

Alexandar Georgiev didn’t need to steal a game for the Avalanche, but he was a catalyst in their 2-1 victory in a rematch against the Washington Capitals on Thursday.

The Russian goaltender made 28 saves, half of which came in the third period when the Caps were pressing for the game-tying goal. The best stop among them came on Dylan Strome from the slot with just over five minutes remaining with the Avs up 2-1. As Annunen did against the Flyers three nights prior, Georgiev made the big save with the team up a goal, which is all you could ask for from your goalies if you’re Jared Bednar.

Georgiev was ‘Good’ in his return from a two-game injury absence.

Georgiev has won his last four starts and has surrendered just four goals in the last three. Colorado started the season 0-4-0 but has gone 11-5-0 since then. Despite dealing with injury issues along the way, one main difference between the first set of games and the last 16 is the goaltending. The duo hasn’t quite been among the league’s best, but they’re doing enough to let Colorado’s talent carry the load and win more games.

The Caps lead the NHL in goals per game but were playing without Alex Ovechkin, who is expected to miss 4-6 weeks with an injury.

Who’s Hot and Who’s Not? Colleen Flynn has more on that here.

Around The NHL

San Jose Hockey Now: MacKenzie Blackwood is making a case to be one of the three goalies selected for Team Canada at the 4 Nations Faceoff in February. While Blackwood doesn’t quite have the same numbers as others in contention, Sheng Peng argues he’s still doing his part to be heavily considered.

Blackwood has been linked to the Avalanche in the past as a goalie option and I still stand by the thought that I feel they’re going to make some sort of move for goaltending help before the trade deadline. Whether it means trading Georgiev or Annunen is to be determined. But I can’t see Colorado enter the postseason with the same duo. At least not yet.

Speaking of Sharks goalies, I almost forgot that the Sharks made one of the more intriguing acquisitions of the offseason, acquiring a young Yaroslav Askarov from the Nashville Predators. The Russian goalie finally made his season debut on Thursday, stopping 29-of-31 shots against the St. Louis Blues in a 3-2 shootout loss. The Blues outshot San Jose 31-24.

Chicago Hockey Now: Brooke Lofurno dives into a possible match for the Blackhawks on the trade market — a 25-year-old center on the Philadelphia Flyers. Elliotte Friedman first connected the team and player on his 32 Thoughts blog.

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: The Pittsburgh Penguins have seven wins through the first 21 games. Even if they were off to a better start, hearing from Sidney Crosby is always interesting. But it gets even more intriguing to hear from the longtime captain when the team is struggling as badly as they are. Dan Kingerski caught up with the Canadian legend exclusively on Thursday.

Detroit Hockey Now: Hall of Famer Pavel Datsyuk was in Detroit on Thursday to be honored for his recent induction. While he was at it, the former Red Wings star signed a symbolic one-day contract to retire as a member of the only team he suited up for during his NHL career. What an entertaining player he was in his prime.